Desmond Nethersole-Thompson first came to the Highlands in 1932 to study birds. Following almost twenty years of study, mainly in the Spey Valley, he published his first account of the greenshank species. From 1964, he and his family lived each spring in a remote valley in Sutherland where they followed a population of greenshanks through many consecutive years. In this audio extract from 1980, Desmond describes the greenshank.

I was so fascinated by the greenshank that I wrote a monograph - a book about it - in 1950, which was published in the 'New Naturalist' series in 1951. But that was not enough and for the last sixteen years, my family and I have been working a wonderful population of greenshanks, away up in the wild flowlands of northwest Sutherland, where we live in an old shootin', in a fishing hut for six weeks, four miles from the road and then we do all our work in the traditional way, on foot. And in this time, we've found one hundred and thirty four nests. This book has concentrated on different subjects; we've concentrated on the spacing between nests, food, and the pellets, greenshank's pellets analysed in the British Museum; we've coloured-ringed the chicks and some of the old birds; and we've been doing a lot of tape recording. And I've been, we have been, extremely fortunate to have had our friend, Bill Sinclair, who, although he won't like my saying so, is without doubt, the finest tape recordist of breeding birds in Britain

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Greenshanks in the Northwest Flowlands (2 of 2)

1980s; 1990s

ornithology; naturalists; audio

Inverness Museum and Art Gallery

Bill Sinclair Audio: Bird Watching

Desmond Nethersole-Thompson first came to the Highlands in 1932 to study birds. Following almost twenty years of study, mainly in the Spey Valley, he published his first account of the greenshank species. From 1964, he and his family lived each spring in a remote valley in Sutherland where they followed a population of greenshanks through many consecutive years. In this audio extract from 1980, Desmond describes the greenshank.<br />
<br />
I was so fascinated by the greenshank that I wrote a monograph - a book about it - in 1950, which was published in the 'New Naturalist' series in 1951. But that was not enough and for the last sixteen years, my family and I have been working a wonderful population of greenshanks, away up in the wild flowlands of northwest Sutherland, where we live in an old shootin', in a fishing hut for six weeks, four miles from the road and then we do all our work in the traditional way, on foot. And in this time, we've found one hundred and thirty four nests. This book has concentrated on different subjects; we've concentrated on the spacing between nests, food, and the pellets, greenshank's pellets analysed in the British Museum; we've coloured-ringed the chicks and some of the old birds; and we've been doing a lot of tape recording. And I've been, we have been, extremely fortunate to have had our friend, Bill Sinclair, who, although he won't like my saying so, is without doubt, the finest tape recordist of breeding birds in Britain